Science

Written: 1998.08.29 Last Revised: 2002.06.03

Sci-fi sucks when it ignores the laws of physics. We've got to
break some of them for plot purposes now and then (warp drive,
anyone?), but that doesn't mean we should throw everything
out the window. One of my beefs is that writers always take great
pains to obey the rules of medicine and law in fiction, but science
and engineering are butchered beyond recognition.

You'll never hear a doctor in a medical drama misusing terms like
"cancer" and "aorta", and you'll never hear a
lawyer in a courtroom drama misusing a term such as "subpoena".
But sci-fi writers are so damned lazy that they can't even keep
terms like "joule" and "alloy" straight! I can't
fix these mistakes, but I hope to at least provide enough
information to help other sci-fi fans see them.